Scott Frank’s directorial debut has all the trappings of a heist flick, but the drama runs deeper than simple plot maneuvering. After playing Manic’s unstable delinquent and Brick’s noir detective, Joseph Gordon-Levitt nails another complex role as The Lookout’s Chris Pratt, a brain-damaged janitor recruited to help rob his own bank. Gordon-Levitt’s convincing portrayal carries the picture, and both Pratt and his blind roommate (Jeff Daniels), win our sympathy without suffering our contempt. Other characters, like good/bad girl Luvlee (Isla Fisher) and superkiller Bone (Greg Dunham) seem caricatures in comparison, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Subplots about Chris’s car accident, family and job genuinely engage the audience, leaving the main robbery thread as little more than a catalyst to keep the movie going. The script could do with a little polishing; it suggests developments that fail to come, see-saws about the nature of Chris’s condition and at one point appears to forget a major character’s existence, but these lapses hurt the picture very little. The Lookout is a moving film whose journey is as satisfying as its

destination.